Alternately-actuating mechanism.



No. 735,685. PATENTED AUG. 4,1903.

G. W. WHITTINGTON. Y

ALTERNATELY AGTUA'VIING MEGHANISM. APPLIGATION FILED M1114, 1902.

N0 MODEL.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

- wwf-wur@ l u' u n llilu l Il!" @I ATTORNEY.

No. *ceases i UNITED Y SSTATES Patented August 4, 190.

PATENT I OFFICE.

GEORGE WIIITTINGTOI OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE# p HALF TO JOSEPH H. LARIMER, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

ALTERNATELY-CTUATING MECHANISIVI.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 73 5,685, dated August 4, 1906.

Application filed March 24,1902. Serial No. 99,672. (No mo To all whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, GEORGE W. WHITTINcf- TON, of Indianapolis, county of Marion, and State of Indiana, have invented a certain new and useful Alternately-Actuating Mechan-V ism; and I do hereby declare that the follow` ingisa full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which like figures refer to like parts.

The object of. thisrinvention is to provide means for alternately actuating apair of members to be driven, also to provide means for alternately actuating a memberin opposite directions or reverse it, and also to actuate a member at a changing speed. Y

To accomplish the object of such invention, I provide a pair of shafts with a sheet or strap secured at its ends to said shafts, respec tively, so that as a shaft is actuated the sheet will be wound about it and unwound from the other shaft,fand as it is wound on one shaft the sheet will actuateA the other shaft.

The chief feature of the invention consists in placinga cylinder or a similar means between the rolls of the sheet `wound on said shafts, so as to rest loosely against the same and be movable laterally as the rolls increase in diameter on one shaft and decrease in diameter on the other. This causes said cylinder to move farther from one shaft and nearer to the other. Means are carried or actuated by said cylinder for throwing the shaft-actuating means out of operation on one side when the sheet is nearly unrolled from` the shaft on such side and at the saine time to throw the shaft-actuating means on the other side into operation. I Another feature of the invention consists in providing means carried or actuated by vsuch intermediate cylinder to give the shaftactuating mechanism increased or decreased movement or throw as such intermediate cylinder approaches or recedesfrom said shafts, whereby a changing speed is caused.

The full nature of the invention will be understood from the accompanying drawings, showing one form of device embodying my said invention, and the following description and the claims at the end of' the description.

In detail, Figure 1 is au end elevation of the device with a portion of the casing broken awayand in vertical section. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the operating mechanism at the left-hand end, as shown in Fig. 1, the end of the casing being removed and the spindles being in cross-section, showing the parts in position im mediatelyafter the reversal of the shaft. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the 1eft-hand end of Fig. V1 andra box with the portion of 6o the casing broken away and a portion in horizontal section. Fig. 4 is the same as Fig. 2, showing the parts with the sheet rolled to an equal extent on both shafts, and therefore the actuating mechanism about midway between the periods of alternation, the ratchetwheels being shown in dotted lines. Fig. 5 is the same as Fig. et, showing the parts at the extreme limit of movement immediately prior to the reversal. Fig. 6 is aneelevation of one 7o reversing-bar on a small scale.

The device shown herein to embody the invention might be called an/ indicating and advertising device, having a rectangular casing 10 with a glass window 11 on one side, 75 through which anything printed on the sheet 12 could be seen. To bring said sheet near vthe Window, it is caused to pass over rollers 13 in the upper and lower corners in the casing and mounted in brackets 14. These par- 8o ticular features of the construction herein shown constitute no essential part of the invention that I am seeking to cover by this particular patent. In said casing I mount two shafts 15 by means of the spindles 16. 85 The sheet 12 is secured at one end to one shaft and at the other end to the other shaft,

so that it winds upon one shaft as the latter is actuated and actuates the other shaft as it is being unwound. The .spindles 16 of said 9o shafts carry the ratchetwheels 17, rigidly mounted, which are driven alternately by the pawls 18, pivoted on one end of the plates 19, while the other end of the plates 19 is pivotally mounted on said spindles 16, so the plates will oscillate or rock. Said plates 19 are centrally and longitudinally slotted at 20 for a portion of their length, and the bars 2l are pivoted at one end to the plates 19 by the pins 22, extending through said slots. two of the bars 2l, which eXtend'doWn somewhat toward each other and at their lower There are loo ends are both pivoted, by means of the pin 23, to one end of the bell-crank 24, said pin 23 extending through the longitudinal slot 25 in said bell-crank. The bell-crank 24 is pivoted at 26 to a stand 27, secured to the bottom of the casing. The lower end of the bellcrank has a rod 28 secured to it, that extends from any source of power and through which the bell-crank is actuated by pulling said rod 28. The rod 28 may be made of cable, cord, wire, or similar means for actuating the bellerank. The rod 28 actuates the bell-crank in only one direction, and it is actuated in the opposite direction by the contractile spring 29, which is connected with the bell-crank at one end and at the other end to the little post 30, secured to the bottom of the casing. The pivot-pin 23 also extends through a slot 31 in a vertical guide-bar 32, that is rigidly secured to the bottom of the casing for the purpose of guiding the movement of the lower end of the bars 21.

The mechanism just described, if not modifedor controlled byother mechanism, would actuate both shafts and ratchet-wheels simultaneously at each downward movement of the bars 21 and in opposite directions. The shafts are caused to operate alternately and to reverse and to rotate in the same direction and with changing speed by the following means: A bar 33, which may be called a reversingbar,7 is slotted at 34 near each end, so as to ride on the spindles 16, and is curved convexly upward with regular curvature from one shaft to the other. Near each end, pre ceding the longitudinal slots 34, there are similar transverse slots 55, also curved, and through which the pin 22, secured to the bars 21, extends. The reversing-bar 33 is vertically slotted at 35 midway between its ends, in which the cylinder 36 is mounted by the spindle 37 to permit the adjustment of the cylinder to meet theirregularities in the surfaces and sizes of the rolls in the winding and unwinding of the sheet. A bar48, (shown in Fig. 6,) very similar to the bar 33, is provided at the other end of the mechanism to carry the other end of the cylinder 36. Said cylinder is of greater diameter than the space between the rolls of the sheet on the shafts, so that said cylinder rests between and to some extent upon the two rolls on the two shafts and moves toward and away from said shafts as the rolls thereon increase or diminish. The sheet passes from under one of the rolls over the cylinder 36 and then under the other roll, so that it holds the cylinder down tightly against the surface of the rolls. As one roll diminishes and the other one increases the cylinder 36 forces the reversing-bar 33 toward the diminishing roll, as seen in Fig. 5. The eEect of this is to bring the pivot-pin 22 in the bar 21, that actuates the shaft carrying the diminishing roll, near the spindle of said shaft, so it at every actuation elevates the upper and outer end of the plate 19, in which it is pivotedpand throws it farther back from the center of the machine. When this change has progressed slightly beyond the position shown in Fig. 5, the arm 49 on the right-hand pawl 18 will come into engagement with the lug 41, secured to the top of the casing, which will cause said 'pawl to change from a disengaging position, as shown in Fig. 5, to an engaging position with the right-hand ratchet-wheel. Said lug 41 in making such change overcomes the tendency Vof the spring 42 to hold said pawl out of engagement, and when the'pawl is thrown into engagement said spring, as is seen in the lefthand side of the last three figures, acting on the arm 43 tends to hold said pawl into engagement with the ratchetwheel. While the pawl and its carrying-plate 19 are reaching the extreme position just described the lefthand pawl and plate 19 are assuming the position shown in the left-hand part of Fig. 5, and as the lug 41 throws the right-hand pawl into engagement with the right-hand ratchetwheel the adjustable bolt 44 throws the lefthand pawl out of engagement with the-lefthand ratchet-wheel. Said bolt 44 is screwed into the ear 45, that is connected with the re-V versing-bar 33, and engages the arm 46 of the pawl. The bolt 44 can be nicely adjusted to cause the simultaneous throwing et both pawls one into and the other out of engagement. The lugs 41 are likewise adjustable by the nuts 47 for the same purpose. Hence after the sheet has been moved somewhat farther than is shown in Fig. 5 the actuating mechanism will be reversed and the shafts and sheet will move in the opposite direction, the right hand shaft being the actuated one, and it through the sheet actuates the other shaft. This continues until the sheet is :fully wound on the right-hand shaft and another reversal occurs. Fig. 2 shows the position of the parts just after this last-mentioned reversal, however, with the bell-crank, bars 21, plates 19, and pawls 18 about midway from the position shown in Fig. 2 to the position shown in Fig. 4, where the two rolls are substantially equal. In Fig. 4 the bell-crank, bars 2l, plates 19, and pawls 18 are shown in their lowest posi` tion. In Fig. 5 they are shown in their high- .ICO

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est position. These actuating parts, however l moved, cause the same extent of movement of the sheet of paper, whatever may be the position of the bar 33 or the cylinder 26. The changes and effects of the actuating mechanism are controlled by theshifting of the bar 33 by the means of the cylinder 36. This shifting not only causes the alternation of theaetuation of the shafts and their reversal of movement, but also causes a gradual change in the speed of the shafts. This latter is due to the fact that as the rolls increase first on the left hand, as seen in Fig. 5, the pin 22 in the bar 21 is pushed farther out away from the center of the shaft, and as such pin moves away from the center of the shaft iteauses a correspondingly-diminished extent of movement of the pawl, ratchet-wheel, and shaft;

reversal of the actuating means takes place with reference to the sheet, provided it occurs before the sheet is entirely unwound, for immediately upon the reversal the newlyactuated shaft will begin to withdraw the sheet from the other shaft. The sheet will be wound and unwound on the two shafts exactly at the same speed, because the pressure of the cylinder 36 against both rolls is equal, which keeps the tension of the sheet on each roll the same. Thumb-screws 50 are secured outside the casing on the spindles 16 for resetting the shafts'or turning the sheet to any desired position.

I do not wish to limit my invention to any particular means for actuating the bell-crank 24 or to any particular means for actuating said shafts, as the essence of the invention lies in utilizing the cylinder 36 for throwing the shaftactuating means into and out of operation at each limit of movement of said cylinder.

What is claimed to be the invention, and to be secured by Letters Patent, is-

'l. A pair of shafts, mechanism for inde, pendently actuating the same, a sheet that winds from one shaft upon the otherand forms rolls, a cylinder resting against the two rolls so it will move laterally as the rolls vary in size, means moved by the cylinder for controlling the position of the shaft-actuating mechanism,and means for engaging the shaftactuating mechanism at certain positions for throwing the same into or out of operation.

2. A pair of shafts,`mechanisms f or actuating each shaft, a sheet that winds from one shaft upon the other and forms rolls thereon, a cylinder resting against the two rolls so it will move laterally as the rolls vary in size, means moved by the cylinder for controlling the position of the shaft-actuating mechanisms, and means that engage the shaft-actuating mechanisms when in a certain position for simultaneously throwing one out of operation and the other into operation.

3. A pair of shafts, mechanism for independently actuating the same, a sheet that winds from one shaft upon the other and forms rolls thereon, a cylinder resting against the two rolls so it will move laterally as the rolls vary in size, a reversing-bar in which said cylinder is mounted and whereby said bar is moved, and a connectionv between the reversing-bar and shaft-actuating mechanism for controlling the latter.

et. A pair of shafts, mechanism for independently actuating the same, a sheet that winds from one shaft upon the other and forms rolls thereon, a cylinder resting against the two rolls so it will move laterally as the rolls vary in size, a bar in which said cylinder is mounted and whereby it is moved for controlling the shaft-actuating mechanism, and means for guiding said bar so it will move in a direction parallel with an arc through the i center of said shafts drawn from a point below the shafts.-

5. A pair of shafts, mechanism for independently actuating the same, a sheet that winds from one shaft upon the other and forms rolls thereon, a cylinder resting against the two rolls so it will move laterally as the rolls vary in size, a bar in which said cylinder is mounted and whereby it is moved for controlling the shaft-actuating mechanism, and central extensions or spindles from said shafts, said bar having a slot near each end through which said extensions or spindles pass, said slots extending in line with an arc through the center of said spindles and drawn from a point below them.

6. A pair of shafts, mechanism for independently actuating the same, a sheet that winds from one shaft upon the other land forms rolls thereon, a cylinder resting against the two rolls so it will move laterally as the rolls vary in size, ratchet-wheels for rotating said shafts, plates pivoted concentric with the .ratchet-wheels extending toward each other and longitudinallyA slotted, bars with pins extending through the slots in such plates, a common means for actuating said bars, pawls on said plates to engage the ratchet-wheels, and means moved by said cylinder for controlling the position of said pawls.

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7. A pair of shafts, mechanism for independently actuating the same, a sheet that winds from one shaft upon the other and forms rolls thereon, a cylinder resting against the two rolls so it will move laterally as the Arolls vary in size, ratchet-wheels for rotating said shafts, plates pivoted concentric with the ratchet-wheels extending toward each other and longitudinally slotted, bars with pins extending through the slots in su'ch plates, a common means for actuating said bars, pawls on said plates adapted to engage the ratchet-wheels, means moved by said cylinder for controlling the position of said pawls, and a spring for holding said pawls in or outof actuating position.

8. A pair of shafts, mechanism for independently actuating the same, a sheet that winds from one shaft upon the other and forms rolls thereon, a cylinder resting against the two rolls so it will move laterally as the rolls vary in size, a bar in which said cylinder is mounted and whereby the bar is moved, ratchet-wheels for rotating said shafts, plates pivoted concentric with the ratchet-wheels extending toward each other and longitudinallyslotted,barswith pinsextendingthrough the slots in such plates, a common means for actuating said bars, pawls on said plates to engage the ratchet-wheels, a spring for holding each of said pawls in or out of engage- IIO IZO

ment, and an adjustable means on said bar near each end adapted to engage said pawls when the bar approaches its limit of movement in either direction.

9. A pair of shafts, mechanism for independently actuating the same, a sheet that winds from one shaft upon the other and forms rolls thereon, a cylinder resting against the two rolls so it will move laterally as the rolls vary in size, a bar in which said cylinder is mounted and whereby the bar is moved, ratchet-Wheels for rotating said shafts, plates pivoted concentric with the ratchet-wheels extending toward each other and longitudinallyslotted,bars withpinsextendingthrough the slots in such plates, a common means for actuating said bars, pawls on said plates to engage the ratchet-wheels, a spring for holding each of said pawls in or out of engagement, an adjustable means on said reversingbar near each end adapted to engage said pawls when the bar approaches its limit of movement in either direction, means on said reversing-bar near each end adapted to engage one of said pawls near the limit of movement of the reversing-barand disengage the pawl from the ratchet-wheel, and a stationary means thatat the same time engages the other pawl and throws it into engagement with the ratchet-wheel.

l0. A pair of shafts, mechanism for independently actuating the same, a sheet that winds from one shaft upon the other and forms rolls thereon, a cylinder resting against the two rolls so it will move laterally as the rolls vary in size, a bar in which said cylinderis mounted and whereby said bar is moved, ratchet-wheels for rotating said shafts, independent means for driving said wheels, and means for actuating said wheel-driving means that cooperates with said bar to control said wheel-driving means.

1l. A pair of shafts, means for independently actuating the same, a sheet that winds from one shaft upon the other and forms rolls thereon, a cylinder resting against the two rolls so it will move laterally as the rolls vary in size, ratchet-wheels for rotating said shafts, plates pivoted concentric with the ratchet-wheels extending toward each other andlongitudinally slotted,pawlsonsaidplates to engage the ratchet-wheels, means moved by said cylinder for controlling the position of said pawls, bars with pins extending through the slots in said pawl-carrying plates with the lower ends ofsaid barspivoted together,means for actuating said bars, and a vertical guide for controlling the movement of the lower end of said bars.

12. A pair of shafts, means for independently actuating the same, a sheet that winds from one shaft upon the other and forms rolls thereon, a cylinder rest-ing against the two rolls so it will move laterally as the rolls vary in size, ratchet-wheels for rotating said shafts, plates pivoted concentric with the ratchet-wheels extending toward each other and longitudinallyslotted,pawlson saidplates to engage the ratchet-wheels, means moved by said cylinder for controlling the position of said pawls, bars with pins extending through the slots in said pawl-carrying plates with tlre lower ends pivoted together, a vertical guide for controlling the movement of the lower end of said bars, a slotted bell-crank for actuating said bars, a spring for actuating the bell-crank in one direction, and means for actuating it in the other direction.

13. A pair of shafts, mechanism forindependently actuating the same, a loosely- .mounted cylinder between and above the center of said shafts, a sheet secured at each end to said shafts that passes over said cylinder and extends therefrom under and about each of said shafts and forms rolls on the shafts, and means moved by the cylinder for controlling the shaft-actuating mechanisms.

14. A pair of shafts, mechanism for independently actuating the same, a sheet that winds from one shaft upon the other and forms rolls thereon, a cylinder resting against the two rolls so it will move laterally as the rolls vary in size, centrally-located spindles on the ends of said cylinder, a bar at each end of the cylinder with a vertically-elongated slot in which the spindles from the cylinder have bearing, means for guiding said bars so they will move in a direction parallel with an arc through the center of said shafts drawn from a point below the shafts, and a connection between one of said reversing-bars, and the shaft-actuating mechanism for controlling the latter.

In witness WhereofI have hereunto aixed my signature in the presence of the witnesses herein named.

GEORGE W. WHITTINGTON.

Witnesses:

FLORENCE E. BRYANT, V. H. LocKwooD.

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